No walleyes for the St. Joseph -- again

The St. Joseph River walleye stocking program has suffered another severe blow. In a move to stem the spread of Viral Hemorrhagic Septicemia (VHS) virus, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources placed a one-year moratorium on walleye rearing and stocking. That means no walleyes for Indiana this summer -- the third without a worthwhile river stocking. VHS has caused widespread fish mortalities in Lakes St. Clair, Erie and Ontario. It is believed to have entered the Great Lakes from ballast water discharged by cargo ships that took in infected water from elsewhere. Michigan will spend this season testing eggs collected from infected walleyes to determine whether iodine disinfection treatments used on trout and salmon will work on walleyes. If so, the state will resume its production in 2008. Could this be the knockout punch for the St. Joe walleye program? "It is gonna hurt and we'll definitely feel it," said Indiana biologist Neil Ledet. "If we had two decent survivals from subsequent years, it wouldn't be an issue. Assuming Michigan gets production going again soon, I think we'll recover." That's what happens when you're dependent upon one source for fish, a source that has been unreliable for the past few years. A poor spawn in 2005 resulted in Michigan shortages and prevented Indiana from getting its customary 100,000 fish for which it trades catfish. Last year, Michigan could supply only 70,000 but so few survived that the stocking was declared a bust. Indiana won't look for an alternative in the interim. The strain of walleyes that Michigan provides has done well in the St. Joseph River and officials are reluctant to use other sources. It is the same strain Michigan stocks above Bristol and in its own waters downstream from South Bend. That strain comes from the Muskegon River, which is connected to the Great Lakes. That doesn't mean walleyes reared at Wolf Lake and traded to Indiana are infected. The DNR's moratorium is a preventative measure that enables the state to fend off the disease when it enters Lake Michigan -- if it hasn't already. Walleyes aren't the only species affected by the DNR's decision. Northern pike and muskellunge production has been halted as well. "All of the DNR's egg sources for walleye and one key source for northern pike are from Great Lakes waters that are, or are highly likely to be, infected with VHS," Kelley Smith, chief of the DNR Fisheries Division, said in a press release. "Muskellunge egg sources, as well as two other sources for northern pike are located in very high risk waters." Ledet says Michigan is being overly cautious, but for good reason. An outbreak in the hatchery system could be costly and disastrous for other fish. "These are problems that agencies have tackled in the past with other species and I have no reason to believe they won't be able to figure out something for walleyes," he said. Indiana will be testing for VHS in walleyes and muskies gathered from its own brood stock. Muskies are being collected at Lake Webster and walleyes taken from Brookville Reservoir in southern Indiana. "Let's hope we come up with a big fat zero, or we could be in trouble," Ledet noted.